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Kyjiv 2007 - Part 1

Thus begins my tale about the capital of Ukraine, Kyjiv. Although the city is widely known as Kiev I must say that this name comes from a transliteration of the russian name of the city. The proper Ukrainian name transliterated into English is Kyjiv. This linguistic thing aside, Kyjiv is a really old city with long history of turmoil, upheaval and prominence.

St. Sophia Square

St. Sophia's square is not far from Khreschatyk - the main street of the city, about five minutes away, and only a few minutes away from another great square - the St. Michael's. The good thing about the downtown of Kyjiv is that you can spend a few hours walking around and, in the meantime, be able to see lots of different great things, monuments, churches, buildings etc. - many places to visit and to take pictures of.

    Well, St. Sophia's square is quite big and has a monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky - Ukraine's great Hetman. Near this monument there is a highly polished granite slab with the following inscription on it:
        "At this place, on the 22nd of January 2005, by the free votes on the Great Council of Ukrainian Cossacks, the People's President Viktor Yuschenko was elected, sworn in and sanctified as the Hetman of Ukraine".
    You can see the picture below.

The square is named in honour of the St. Sophia Cathedral - one of the architectural landmarks of the city. Unfortunately I didn't go inside the St. Sophia's Cathedral so I didn't take any pictures of the churches inside, just the picture of the bell tower outside of the Cathedral. Well, when you are running around with business papers from one place to another, going inside the church to take some pictures is the last thing on one's mind. However, I will correct this problem the next time I'll be in Kyjiv.

St. Michael's Square

St. Michael's Square is located a couple of minutes away from the St. Sophia Square and Khreschatyk. You can find a Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine here, the St. Michael's Cathedral and a triple monument to some prominent personages from Ukrainian history.

The St. Michael's Cathedral, well its reconstruction after the demolition by the Soviets, is indeed a great wonder, very impressive. Pictures cannot tell the whole story, it really pays to see it yourself. For those who cannot, you can check out some of my pictures below.

The Independence Square

The heart of the city is the Independence Square or, as it is better known in ukrainian, the Maydan Nezalezhnosti. It has been the true heart of the Orange Revolution, pumping adrenaline and hope to all those who wished to see Ukraine a democratic country. There are lots of things to see on this square. Firstly, there is the Independence Statue is the centerpiece of the square, its magnetic pole so to speak. Under its arch, the President Viktor Yuschenko swore an oath to serve the Ukrainian people.

Near the Independence Statue you'll find a monument to Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid' - the legendary founders of Kyjiv. It is a nice architectural composition. A little bit further there is a statue of Cossack Mamay. All in all, these two compositions transfer the spirit of Ukrainian history to the viewer.

Across the Khreschatyk, on the other half of the square you'll be able to find the Archangel Michael's arch. The Archangel Michael is considered to be the patron of Kyjiv.

The Globe - this cool looking globe is actually a handy feature, it shows the distances from Kyjiv to the provincial centers of Ukraine and you may see it on one of the screenshots below.
The fountains that are located on this half of the square can offer relief during the hot summer days. Lots of tourists usually take pictures near the fountains.

Click on a thumbnail below to see a larger picture in this frame